¹⁸ Their bows will cut young men to pieces.
They will have no compassion on offspring;
they will not look with pity on children.

⁴² They grasp bow and javelin.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea,^(A)
and they ride on horses,
lined up like men in battle formation
against you, Daughter Babylon.

⁶ Look! I am raising up^(A) the Chaldeans,^[a]
that bitter,^(B) impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
⁷ They are fierce^(C) and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
⁸ Their horses are swifter^(D) than leopards^(E)
and more fierce^[b] than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.^(F)
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces^(G) are set in determination.^[c]
They gather^(H) prisoners like sand.^(I)
10 They mock^(J) kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh^(K) at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture^(L) it.
¹¹ Then they sweep^(M) by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty;^[d] their strength is their god.

¹² Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?^(N)
My Holy One,^(O) you^[e] will not die.
Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock,^(P) you destined them to punish us.
¹³ Your eyes^(Q) are too pure^(R) to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?^(S)
Why are you silent
while one^[f] who is wicked swallows up
one^[g] who is more righteous than himself?
¹⁴ You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,^(T)
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
¹⁵ The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,^(U)
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
¹⁶ That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.^(V)
17 Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?